


The Brat in the Bathtub

by blessende



Series: Searching for Levi [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Hero Complex, Hero Worship, M/M, Rorschach's Journal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 02:32:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14010255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessende/pseuds/blessende
Summary: Boy meets superhero in the parallel world. Shenanigans ensue. Set in the Searching for Levi Universe. Year 2005.





	The Brat in the Bathtub

 

 

2005

 

The Brat in the Bath Tub

(or The Super Hero from the Basement)

 

—It’s a dark, smouldering night in the city of Trent. Rorschach hangs from the turret of Cartesian Cathedral; one tennis shoe perched on a flying buttress, the other hanging limp in the air. The Masked Vigilante wears but one face, an ever-changing collage of black and white blotches on tarp. It’s a mask that sits ugly on top of a cravat. The slanted eyes underneath the tarp gaze long and hard upon the city below. It’s quiet, much too quiet for his liking. The city sleeps below him, but as always… _he_ can't—

 

It was midnight, and there was a power outage in the neighbourhood. A transformer had apparently broken down. That’s what he deduced from the voices on the street.

It was midnight, and Eren Jaeger, our boy sleuth, couldn't sleep either.

The boy was buried under the comforter, torchlight held between nimble fingers. He was leafing through the pages of 'The Masked Vigilante' Issue #55, careful to not soil the pages. The fifteen-year-old was so engrossed in the black and white panels that he'd lost track of time.

The comic had been his war spoils, after winning a bet with the ashbrown numbskull in his class. A giraffe that went by the name Jean Kirstein. Jean had been mouthing off that he could kick Eren's ass at wrestling. A tall claim, unfounded in principle, and so Eren decided to intervene. There had been insults and name calling back and forth. ‘Horseface’ and ‘suicidal bastard’ being a recurring theme in the argument. The match would have been a draw if Eren hadn't lunged at Jean and bitten the pinky off him. Not literally. There were no decapitated fingers, but he’d dug his teeth in far enough and so Kirstein had to be rushed to the infirmary. And the crowd of tenth grade spectators, declared Eren winner by default. He was hurled atop shoulders and given a warrior's cheer. Of course, his triumphant spirit deflated like a tire upon returning home. His mother chewed him out completely.

'I got a call from your school,’ she said. ‘Fighting? You’ve been fighting? Oh Eren, is this the way I brought you up?'

Besides brawling, Eren had another hobby which he took very seriously. Even more seriously than getting into fist fights. Comics. Under Eren's bed was a secret stash of Ace, The Dark Knight, The Avengers, Flash Gordon and the Watchmen— the last being a recent favourite though he was still trying to wrap his head around that one. Some of the graphic novels had been scavenged from garage sales; others he had traded with Armin in exchange for his father's lofty journals. It was Eren's understanding that anyone who chose Darwin's Origin of Species over the Masked Vigilante had to be at least a little kooky in the head and needed to get his priorities right.

When he mentioned this to Armin, the blond didn't take his advice to heart and called Eren a judgmental idiot in return.

Fair enough, Eren decided.

It’s fine, he thought. If Armin weren’t a nerd, who could he copy his homework from?

Eren stretched his limbs under the comforter, untroubled by the sounds of a leaking faucet in his bathroom. He shivered slightly against the draft since he'd kept the large French window open. He was being reckless, he knew. But tonight, was the night for rebellion. Tonight, was the night for 'mayhem'. All because Eren had the house to himself. Whoop, whoop.

And tonight, he was going to be a free man, free to do whatever the hell the teenager wanted to do. He could sit up all night and read his comics, and there would be no one to nag him to bed. He’d have preferred watching late night sitcoms or some gory x-rated movie but there was a power outage in the neighbourhood and no one could get the generator working. So, comics it had to be.

His mother was visiting a sick friend from work. There was no one else in the Jaeger family. His father Grisha had abandoned them when Eren had been merely ten, walked out one evening in the thick of shadows. His deadbeat dad remained just that. Deadbeat, never seen again. The only memory Eren had of his father was the strange key Grisha had left in his possession before pulling the disappearing act and his last words.

Eren didn't know why the man had walked out on the family. It was one of those mysteries in life that only adults understood. Like how Grisha's framed photographs remained on Carla's dresser, which she insisted on keeping for some strange, inexplicable reason. Eren didn’t keep any pictures in his own. He wasn't sentimental. At least, not towards people who turned their backs on others.

Eren sat up and sank back against his head board; he tried to stop thinking about his dad. He peered down at his comic panels. Who needed fathers when one could replace them anyway?

—Rorschach swings down, landing on the dome of a mausoleum. He spots a figure running in an alley submerged in shadows. He chases after it, step to step and finally corners the stranger at the alley's dead end. 'Hurrm,' he mutters, and the figure turns around but there is something in his hand—

His torch light flickered and breathed its last, throwing Eren into complete, utter darkness.

_Dammmit._

The fifteen-year-old rolled out of bed, muttering in disbelief. Of all the places, the torch had to die, this had to be the very worst. How was he going to handle all that suspense?

Batteries were the singular thought in his head. Yes. Must get batteries. He needed to know what happened next. His mum ought to have kept the reserves somewhere.

Eren scrambled out of his bed and grazed his way out of the bedroom, feeling his way down the carpet stairs. His steps sounded muffled to his own ears. His hand pressed to the railing, he did a left turn and paused in the hallway.

In the shadows that filled the house like visitors uninvited, something caught his eyes. There was a light under one of the doors in the corridor. A strange light, which shimmered in the dust of the ground.

The basement?

Wait. What the hell was in his _basement_?

Oh god.

A... burglar?

He tiptoed to the door, clasped hold of the brass knob as quietly as he could and turned it.

Locked.

It had always been locked, he remembered.

What should he do? Call 911? Get his baseball bat and wait for the burglar to come out on his own? Oh decisions, decisions.

In the back of his head, Eren imagined Jean calling him a _pussy_ and having that swagger idiot laughing at him with a bandaged pinky pointed at Eren's face. ‘Shit, Jaeger. You got robbed and you did nothin’? You complete wuss!’

The mental image was enough to stir him into action, and Eren made up his mind.

He took two steps back and remembered someone’s last words to him. To never ever go into the basement. Never, echoed his voice of conscience. When Eren was ten, he’d listened. Now that he was fifteen with a dad who never stuck around, he wasn't inclined to give a damn.

Eren braced himself and lunged towards the door.

_THUD!_

_Creeeak!_

The hinges cracked against his shoulder and gave away under the weight of his crash. The boy never got a hold on his momentum. He tripped over the steps leading down, scraped his knees against the railing and landed in a heap of arms and legs at the very bottom.

_Ouch!_

Okay, he groused. That didn't go the way he’d planned.

Cursing under his breath, Eren found himself lying in a swamp of dust, cobweb and old engine grease.

Fuckin' fantastic, muttered the teenager and sat up. He dusted his t shirt, letting loose a cloud of dust. Eren coughed and clamping a hand over his nose and mouth, regarded the place around him.

Thankfully, there was no one else in the basement. No burglars, serial killers, absolutely nobody.

But he knew now where the light was coming from. And the knowledge didn't bring any relief.

There was a giant arch in the middle of his basement, towering high up till the rafters of the ceiling. It stood in the cramped space, as if it belonged there with its strange, majestic aura. Small bulbs were lit around its high arch, like control towers of the airport on a cloudy night. There was also a static electricity in the air, which made the hair on his arms stand.

What in the world—

He felt his heart racing in his chest, adrenalin kicking in and making him twitch in anticipation and fear too.

Eren spotted a padlock to the left of the arch, carved in the column.

A lock.

He stared long and hard at this oddity in the construction. And the puzzle fell into place in his head.

Eren groped for the string around his neck and fished it out.

Grisha's key was cold against his palm and illuminated by the arch's soft light. It glimmered and felt heavier than usual. Almost as if the funny thing in the basement was calling out to it.

It was a wild guess, but Eren did the only thing anybody in his position would have done.

He would regret it later.

As soon as he jammed the key into the lock, there was a click. A perfect match, ha, well, what do you know?

A voice spoke out, scaring the shit out of him. A voice, mechanical and void of any emotion.

'Authorization Code Accepted. Welcome to Titan.'

The next thing Eren knew, he was lying at the bottom of a bathtub.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a feeling that is almost indescribable, which rendered words useless and phrases obsolete. And that was being at the bottom of a bathtub, a bathtub not empty but filled to the brim with water. Not knowing how you got there but still alive under the weight of forty gallons of liquid. Suffice to say, Eren panicked. He felt the air in his lungs thin and pushed himself up. He broke surface, panting, winded, and when he did, the loud splash resonated through the hollow of a pristine bathroom.

Drenched to the skin, hair sopping wet, his lungs bled for air. His chest rose and fell, his heart thundering in his flooded ear drums. There were spots in his vision and the whiteness of the walls glared upon him. He took a moment to gather his senses… that is, what was left of his senses.

Where in the world, was he?

He coughed, sputtered and felt the cold wetness cling to him like a second skin.

Eren caught hold of the tub's sides and buoyed himself up. He landed one dripping foot on the ridiculously clean floor and stumbled his way out of the shower curtains. He sat down on a corner of the tub and regarded this alien place.

There were the usual appliances and the not so usual ones. He caught sight of a strange thing that looked like a brush but also didn’t seem like a brush and then, a razor in the holder above the basin. There was a sink and faucet, both dry. In fact, the only lingering wetness was the puddle forming at Eren's feet. He didn't know where he was or whose house it was… but it was apparent that no one had been in here for a while. He felt half guilty about spoiling the bathroom's pristine order.

The teenager peered around the room, searching for the exit.

Oh.

There!

He crossed the bath in two strides, leaving a messy trail of water behind him. And when he reached the door, he grew baffled. There was no latch to yank it open, and worse, the door seemed shut air tight. Eren pressed along its surface, hands groping, scavenging for a lever, anything— he was getting edgier by the second, frantic to leave this strange place. He searched for dents and ridges. But the door had none and every time he ran his hand over the door, a red light illuminated the sides of the metal door.

And then Eren heard something. Paws scraping on the other side, and he heard a dog bark.

Eren pulled back in surprise.

Wait.

A dog?

The mongrel kept barking, pawing the metal door and whined its frustration from the other side.

Eren crouched low and saw the miniscule gap between the edges. Maybe if he could wedge the door out... He looked around for something to use as leverage. A screw driver, a knife... oh god, please, please, let there be something.

Eren returned to the basin. There was a digital clock perched above the medicine cabinet, which he hadn't noticed before. It stated '10:43 pm'. Eren frowned. Last he checked, it had been well past midnight. How long had been out? When exactly did he get put into the tub? How long was it even possible to breathe down under?

His head hurt from all the questions.

Eren yanked open the cabinet. The smell of formalin and antiseptic hit him without warning, and he buried his nose in his sleeve, sieving through the contents of the cabinet. What the heck is this smell? He found rolls and rolls of what looked like medicated bandage, hence of course, the smell. And also, five bottles of pills, labelled in a scrawny black writing. Whoever owned this place, was meticulous about labelling his stuff.

But there was nothing here to help him get out of this wretched room.

Shit.

Eren drew back, the first element of shock settling in him. He was in trouble, oh he was in deep shit, alright. How did he go from being in his basement to… to this?

There was only one logical conclusion.

Someone had mugged him and dragged him out. He’d been kidnapped from his own house and was now being held as an unwilling hostage. And from the look of things, he’d been here awhile.

Though a part of him wondered who in the world would want a sweaty, fifteen-year-old man child?

The answer was not comforting in any way.

Child trafficking?

Shit, he was so fucked.

Eren walked back to the bathtub, feeling the energy drain from him. He collapsed to the tiles, his head a clusterfuck of ‘how’s and ‘why’s. He drew his knees to his chest and buried his head in his hands, raking his fingers though his wet brown hair. Would his mom panic when she found out? Worse, what if he was being held for ransom?

 _Dammit._ He was so useless.

The dog outside had stopped barking, and there was that nerve-wracking quiet again.

How long before the kidnappers came back?

How long did he have?

He didn't know.

Eren's turquoise green eyes darted around. A weapon. He needed a weapon. But how was he supposed to defend himself with balls of cotton, a toothbrush thing, a towel and... a razor.

Wait, a razor?

No.

He could still do something.

Growing determined, Eren stood up and ambled over to the basin. He reached for the razor, worked its lid off and drew the blade out. It was different than the ones he was used to. Not stainless steel but made from from something else. He glanced at the towel and an idea struck him. He pulled out the towel from the hangar and dipped it in the tub, letting it soak.

And then he waited.

There was a tick.

The clock on the shelf had struck 1.

Wait.

1?

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are things a person expects when one comes home to his small, lonely apartment after a long, tiring day at work. When you're a bachelor of twenty-six, a newly promoted lieutenant to the PeaceCorps of Titan, this usually meant a quiet dinner, a glass of wine, cleaning up the mess created from said dinner and wine, a rudimentary game of catch with his mecha pet and then, some much needed shut eye.

What Rivaille Levi had _not_ expected was to find Krobe (his mechanical dog) on high alert. The rottweiler pup was watching the bathroom door with its ears perked up.

Cute dog.

But stupid, painfully stupid.

Levi watched it, amused. 'Hey there, dopey. What's got you wired?' he asked the droid, a weary smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Levi slipped off his coat, hung it in his closet and crept over to the pup’s side. He sank on one knee to tweak Krobe's ears.

The dog was surprisingly not seeking attention tonight. Instead, it caught Levi's pant leg and dragged him towards the bathroom, egging the man to investigate.

'Alright, alright, what did the door do to you now? Did the big, bad bastard slam shut on your tail? Did it bark back at you?'

Krobe let out a low growl and nipped at his ankles.

‘You’re a piece of work. What’s got into you tonight?’

With a sigh, Levi turned to the offending object and placed a hand over door's metal surface. He intended to show Krobe that the door was indeed harmless, that there was nothing vindictive about it at all. The door to the bathroom read his prints and swung wide open… and that’s when Levi was treated to his second surprise of his day.

There was a boy in his bathroom.

Yes, there was a boy-- a stranger by all rights, holding a razor blade in his outstretched hand. What was more off-putting? The kid was trying to look fierce with it.

Levi stared long and hard.

The flow of emotions on the boy's face was a sight to behold. Blue green eyes seemed startled and then, looked him over from head to toe. The boy's lips parted in a daze. 'Raw… shark?' he asked in the smallest of whispers.

Levi silently hoped 'Raw shark' was some sort of a lexicon for 'Sorry to burst in on you uninvited…Mr. Levi, I beg clemency,' but the cloud of confusion was gone, and the boy was back into his fighting stance. 

When Levi stepped into the light, flexing his fingers with a murderous glare in his grey eyes, the moment of missed clarity from his own end was gone too.

And the boy came hurtling forward to attack him.

 

 

 

 

 

'Ouch! Geroff me, you sicko!' yelled the boy, writhing underneath him. 'GET OFF!'

Levi sighed.

'English, huh? That's a relief. And I would love to get off, as you put it but you're not legal yet,' the shorter man jeered, handcuffing the brat's hands behind him. The teenager went beet red. Levi had the boy pinned to the ground, having straddled his back. The brat hadn't gone down fighting. Kid was taller, Levi surmised grumpily.

'GET OFF!' roared the boy.

'Okay, two things,' Levi said, holding up the razor blade to the boy's face.

'First. Did you really think this would help?' Levi tossed the blade away before resuming. '... Secondly and most important of all, who the _fuck_ are you?'

The boy was quiet and craned his neck to meet Levi's gaze.

'You're the one who kidnapped me, you jerk!'

'I did no such thing. Trust me; if I went around kidnapping annoying little shitheads like you, I think I would at least remember it.'

'Then, why the hell did I wake up in your tub?'

Levi looked at the bathtub in question and jabbed a finger in its general direction.

'You came out of that?'

'Uh huh,' replied the boy. 'Where am I? What's with this place?'

'You're in Trost.'

'Trost? Never heard of it.'

'It's in Titan.'

'Titan? Is that… like a country?'

Levi stared at him, grey eyes betraying surprise for the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The communication network Gale beeped in the silence, signalling an incoming call until the lieutenant switched his comm. on.

'Levi,' breathed Hanji, excitement evident in her voice. 'Oh Levi, where is that boy?'

'What do you want, Hanji? I hope you're calling to offer your assistance in surrendering the kid to the authorities.'

'No, no, you mustn't. I checked on a lead. And it's true. He is from Earth.’

'Are you drunk? Did you trip and knock your head against—?'

'No, I’m sane, I assure you. You said he called you something…'

'Yeah, Raw Shark. Whatever the hell that's supposed to mean.'

'No, my dear Leviathan. He meant Rorschach. R-O-R-S-C-H-A-C-H. A comic hero from the book 'Watchmen' who coincidentally wears a cravat just like you do. I couldn't find the book in Titan's repository. Where do you think he got hold of it?'

'What is your point, four eyes?'

'Mhmm, my point is... the boy is from Earth. His story adds up.'

There was a pensive silence.

'Hanji, wait. Are you telling me there is an illegal gateway connected to my bathtub?'

'… maybe.'

Levi muttered an expletive.

'Where is the boy now, Levi?'

'Oh, I dropped him from the window. Served him right.'

Hanji stuttered through her comm.

'Wait. You did what?'

'Don't worry; I've put the gear on him. He doesn't know what the thing does yet. Bet he is sitting on that slab of sixteen inches counting the seconds left to his useless existence.'

 

 

 

 

 

'—thirty-five Mississippi. Three thirty-six Mississippi. Three thirty-seven Mississippi. Three thirty-eight Mississippi...'

The boy sat on the ledge, fear-stricken eyes blinking wide in horror. It really was a sixteen-inch slab under the window, and sixteen inches were all that separated him from a violent tumble down into the dark depths of a blinding night city. Eren had never seen anything like this before. Not even in magazines or the movies they showed on TV. Before his very eyes were the tallest sky scrapers he’d ever hoped to imagine, aircrafts buzzing between their spaces like cars on a highway. He didn't understand this place. How a building seemed to tower mind bogglingly high into the heavens? Or why there was a robotic dog sitting on the windowsill barking down at him? Or how the clock had struck one from ten? And why the heck was he being made to sit out here? Oh right, this was supposed to be punishment for biting the bastard's hand. On second thoughts, he should have chewed into it more.

Levi walked into the balcony with a cup of tea in hand. His back lit against the lights of the apartment, he regarded Eren with cool, grey eyes. He took a leisurely sip of his tea and glanced at the boy sitting on the ledge.

'Hey brat, how is it going?'

Eren glared back, still counting under his breath.

'-Three forty Mississippi. Three forty-one Mississippi. Three forty-two Mississippi. Three forty-three Mississippi...'

Levi smirked.

'So, you're from Earth. You've got spunk, kid. I'll give you that. Most people would have shit their pants by now.'

'-Three forty-four fuckin' bastard. Three forty-five fuckin' asshole. Three forty-six dickhead.'

Levi's smirk only got wider.

'Sit tight, munchkin and reflect on what you did. It's a windy night, and it’s a two hundred feet drop below you. Try not to lose your footing. If you do fall, I won’t try retrieving your squeamish body from the city pavement,' Levi flicked a speck of dust from his sleeve. 'Some food for thought for you. We, Titans, are firm believers of cleanliness and order. Especially me.'

Levi heard his door buzz and Gale's announcement of a visitor.

'Seems like we've got company, kid. Who knows... it may be the military police on their way to take you away. You think you'll get political asylum?'

‘Police?’

He caught the petrified expression on the boy's face, and Levi chuckled.

The lieutenant had hardly slipped through the balcony doors when he heard a faint rustle and a THWACK!

Levi froze.

No, no, the brat couldn't have. He turned on his heels and rushed outside again.

The ledge was empty. Levi tasted the bile in his throat.

That idiot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

'Did you find him yet?' asked Hanji.

Levi scaled down the building, gloved hands wrapped around the cable hanging from his window. 'Not yet, four eyes. And pipe down. I don't want to scare the wits out of some hapless fool who might happen to look out the window.'

Levi pulled at the rope, giving himself some length. He tested the wire parallel to his, which was slack, unmoving and with a weight still attached to it.

Good, still there.

Levi knew he ought to be reaching the end of the line soon. The maneuvering cable couldn’t extend forever, could it?

He was right.

When he climbed down twenty more paces, he reached the first level of clouds hanging around the apartment tower. Through the foggy mist, he saw the boy hanging limp with the cable attached to his back.

Kid was alive. Though his face was a sickly shade of blue.

Levi caught hold of his head and tilted it back. The green eyes moved in a daze under their lids.

The boy's eyes widened at the sight of him.

'What the hell are you? Rorschach? Spiderman? I don't get it.'

Levi sighed.

'I'm flattered, but trust me. I'm no superhero… Rule number one, there are no heroes in Titan.'

The boy was quiet.

'Where is this Titan? I just want to go home, you jerk.'

Levi paused, looking at the boy's brown head hesitantly.

‘Alright. If that's what you want.’

He grabbed hold of the boy, cut the cables connected to the Earthling's back and tossed the teenager over his shoulders, trying to be as gentle as he could, which didn’t amount to much. Levi dangled mid-air, wondering what his next course of action should be. It was one painful climb up, and the lieutenant wasn't particularly inclined to take the long route. Not while lugging the weight of two around. By Mael, this kid was heavier than he let on. Levi spotted the nearest balcony and swung to it.

Removing his gloves by his teeth, he knocked on the glass.

A light switched on; the curtains shifted.

A woman in skimpy lingerie appeared. She opened the sliding glass doors, her expression changing from surprise to shock as she saw Levi in entirety, hanging with a boy on his shoulder. From inside the bedroom, Levi heard a grunt and a wheeze as someone moaned the woman's name (Sylvia, apparently), urging the woman to come back.

Levi leaned towards the woman.

'Sorry to interrupt your fornication, but mind if I use your front door?'

 

 

 

 

 

'That's the Earthborn? Is he still alive? Wait, where are you going? What’re you doing?' Hanji demanded as Levi pushed past her, carrying the boy on his shoulder. The brat was still looking hung over. Levi staggered over to his bathroom, his back sweat drenched from all the exercise he seemed to be putting out tonight. Shit, all he’d wanted was dinner and a good night’s sleep. Not this circus.

Entering his bath, Levi stepped on to the tiles and caught sight of the bathtub.

'He said he came out of the tub,' Levi told Hanji.

'The tub?'

Nodding, Levi walked over and stared down into the shallow abyss of the bathtub. The kid groaned from somewhere on his shoulder and a hand caught a fistful of his shirt, wrinkling it. Levi held the twerp's head and without a word of warning, the lieutenant dropped him into the water.

The water rose in a splash. But Levi didn’t close his eyes. He watched as the boy's head went under; body writhed, blue green eyes snapping awake from the shock, and a key escaped out of the folds of the teenager's shirt. Levi crouched by the tub and pressed his hand on the boy's head, pushing him down under. He let the boy submerge, not allowing the kid to break the surface and watched as a familiar void of darkness opened at the bottom.

So, it’s true.

This boy… he really did come from the other side.

Levi didn’t weaken his hold and now, there was panic in those strange eyes.

'See you space cowboy,' Levi mumbled, wondering if the brat could hear it.

Odd enough, he did.

There was a change in the boy’s expression, fear turning into something else, almost feral in quality. Petrified eyes showed a sudden spur of rage and a hand shot out of the water, grappling to pull Levi in. Fingers wrenched around Levi's cravat, digging in and not letting go.

The boy opened his mouth to say something but all that emerged were bubbles of air. His last breath.

Behind them, Hanji protested.

'He will drown, Levi. Stop it. What if he drowns?'

But Levi stared down at the boy, unapologetic and unflinching in his gaze.

‘Go,’ he said.

The void jerked and pulled back the hand. It contracted, swallowing the boy with it.

Levi's arm floated in the emptiness of water, his ordinarily placid heart thundering in his ears.

He drew back his hand and watched the ripples slowly dissolve. Until he could see his own reflection in the pool. Just him, all alone.

'Is he... gone, Levi?' asked Hanji from the doorway.

Levi clasped hold of his collar and removed the wet fabric from his neck. He looked down at the cravat.

For some strange, inexplicable reason, the touch of the boy's fingers had lingered.

'Yeah,' Levi replied, puzzled. 'Yeah… He's gone.'

 

 

 

 

 

Eren woke up to the voice of Armin screaming his name. He lay on the floor of his basement, his eyes staring belligerently up into the darkness of the ceiling. His ceiling. He was back… home? Home? Armin shone a bright yellow torchlight into his face. Eren felt his vision burn and flinched from the glare.

'Eren?' called out Armin, sounding worried. 'Are you alright? Grandpa asked me to check up on you and oh God, I found you lying on the floor and thought you were dead. What happened to you? Why are you… wet and shivering? Are you hurt? Should I call the paramedics? Should I call Mrs Jaeger?'

Armin kept panicking while Eren sat up and shook his head. He was fine, well, as fine as he could be.

Coughing, the boy looked down at his hand. He stared at it in silence, wondering why he’d just done that.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 


End file.
